The present invention relates to packaging and more particularly to a fiberboard container to package articles such as large irregularly shaped and fragile articles.
At the present time it is relatively difficult and costly to package large and fragile articles so that they may be shipped without being damaged. When such articles are shipped, they may be subject to shocks, for example, due to freight car movements, or the packages may be roughly handled by material handling of equipment.
Large, fragile and irregularly shaped objects such as glass vases, television tubes and other glassware may be packaged utilizing a rigid plastic foam, such as molded expanded polystyrene, in which the cavities in the foam are of the same size and shape as the articles to be packaged. The foam, with its encompassed articles, is then positioned in an outer fiberboard casing such as a box of corrugated paperboard. This type of packaging, although it provides good protection to the articles, is relatively expensive, particularly for large articles. Alternative packaging methods use a box and material which is placed in the box and around the article to cushion the article. For example, the cushioning material may be plastic foam bubbles, wood shavings, newspapers, corrugated paper, plastic sheets having air bubbles, or other types of cushioning material. The use of such cushioning material is relatively labor intensive and the degree of protection depends upon the care and experience of the workers performing the packaging operation.